US3190098A - Cantilever rolling mill - Google Patents

Description

June 22, 1965 1. WILSON 3,190,098

CANTILEVER ROLLING MILL Filed Aug. 1, 1960 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVE 0k 19 11.50

ATTORNEYj 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1960 ATTORNEYS June 22, 1965 1. WILSON 3,190,098

I GANTILEVER ROLLING MILL Filed Aug. 1, 1960 V 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR f lv A/usov ATToQggEYS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 lNvENToR 14 MA so/v ATTORNEQ n m W June 22, ,1965 1. WILSON CANTILEVER ROLLING MILL Filed Aug. 1, 1960 United States Patent 3,190,098 CANTILEVER ROLLING MILL Ian Wilson, High Green, near Sheifield, England, ,assignor to The British Iron and Steel Research Association Filed Aug. 1, 1960, Ser. No. 46,784

9 Claims. (Cl. 72-223) This invention relates generally to mills for the rolling or roll-flattening of elongated material of small width. It applies particularly to rolling mills for wire rods, narrow flats, light section bars and billets, especially when made of steel and hot-rolled continuously in two-high trains, in single or twin-strand fashion.

The prevailing practice is to employ for this purpose mill stands having two rolls supported at both ends in bearing chocks. It is necessary in this arrangement for the roll barrel diameter to be larger than the roll neck diameten'so that bearings may be accommodated on conjugate roll necks. Since the roll necks must be of sufficient size to withstand the stresses imposed by the roll effective for the purpose of elongating the materialthan need be.

Another feature of the aforesaid practice. is that. the

length of the roll barrel is greater than its diameter, so as to accommodate more than one rolling groove, this being done in the interests of best utilization of the rolls, which are costly on account of the presence of precision journals on the roll necks. However, as a consequence, the bending deflection of the rolls during rolling is quite appreciable, and this contributes to the inaccuracy of rolling. It is particularly tiresome in multi-strand rolling. owing to the variation of the deflection with distance from ice the desired high degree of stiffness and do so by further complicating the assembly. a t

In all these mills it is usual to drive bothrolls, the drive being transmitted from a common pinion 'box through Wobbler or universal shafts which allow the spacing apart of the rolls'to be varied. A disadvantage of this arrangement is that the angularity of the drive causes undesirable torque fluctuations. Furthermore, in the absence of any means of ensuring equipartition of the rolling torque betweenthe two roll drives, both have to be designed with ample reserve of strength to cope with the possible concentration of torque in one or the other roll drive. This further increases the size of the roll and aggravates the consequences of it as outlined above.

It is an object of the presehtinvention to provide means of eliminating all or some of the disadvantages outlined above.

Considering the invention from this aspect we provide a rolling mill comprising a first roll mounted. in a housing having a first locking surface facing towards said first roll, and a second roll mounted in a housing having a second locking surface facing away from said second roll, the second roll and surface being arranged between the first roll and the first surface in such a manner that the rolls co-oper'ate for rolling, and the surfaces co-operate in order to lock the housings against the separating force developed between the rolls during rolling, both surfaces intersecting the pass plane, in which the separating force will be developed, and both surfaces being as close as is conveniently possible to the roll gap. The closer the connection between the housings is to the roll gap and pass line the better, for closeness reduces the length of the these wear at difierent rates and yet groove-switching i must be done simultaneously on all stands of a mill train.

In multi-strand mills having rolls supported at both ends it is also impossible to adjust the relative disposition of mating grooves of one strand without affecting other strands- Also, it is impossible in this arrangement to combine multi-strand rolling with the alternation of horizontal and vertical stands in the mill train.

' Yet another unfavourable feature of prevailing practice is that the bearing chocks are slideably mounted in U or O-shaped housing frames. 7 The presence of these frames on either side of the rolling line reduces visibility and accessibility for adjustment during rolling, and makes roll changing cumbersome. If, in the interests of speedy roll changing, U-shaped frames are employed and the 'asso 'design on the elimination of play, then roll changing becomes so complicated that, in the interests of continuity of production, the entire mill stands have to be" changed there is provided a rolling mill comprising two, generally path between the rolls through the housings, and hence reduces the amount of spring in this path.

Additionally, the invention provides that roll gap adjustrnent means be located between the locking surfaces to couple the same, since in this way the adjustment means will be in compression during rolling. For. this purpose a wedge or wedges are preferred for roll gap adjustment, since a wedge bearing between the locking surfaces and so coupling the two housings is readily arranged to intersect the pass plane as do the locking surfaces, and at the same time, a Wedge or wedges provide a means for obtaining fine adjustment of the roll gap without increasing the spring of the mill.

Regarding the above terminology: the pass line is the line along which the material being rolled travels, that is to say, it is a line through the roll gap at right angles to the plane containing the roll axes. The pass plane is the plane containing the pass line and the line of action of the separating forces developed between the rolls during the roll gap perpendicular to the roll axes.

, Considering the invention from another viewpoint,

U-shaped, roll housing structures, one such structure being located with both its 'U-arms disposed between and in opposition to the U-arms of the other structure; Afirst'pair of corresponding adjacent U-arms, one from each structure, respectively include the rolls ofthe mill mounted in overhung manner and the associated roll spindles and A in section,

chocks: while the remaining through the medium of the roll gap adjustment means,

preferably of wedge form also intersecting'the pass plane.

The practical advantages of such a mill are as already described'above and it will be seen'that, in any event, the

arrangement is .also such that-the separating forces due to rolling are. balanced within a closed system which includes no ground connections, the forces exerted on the two housing structures being balanced in the coupling providedby the roll .gap adjustment means whereby such means is anaintained under compression duringrolling.

One embodiment of theinvention; a steel rod mill, and

a, particularly advantageous mill arrangement madeipos. .sible by this invention, will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: 7

FIGURE 1 is a side view of the mill, FIGURE 2' is the same view of the .rnill, shown partly FIGURE 3 is 1, and

FIGURE4 is a enten es the line IV-IVof FIGURE 3 showing one only of the roll housings. FIGURES Sand 6 show, diagrammatically, two -rnill arrangements fortwo-strandrollingI 1 As shown in the drawings, there are two roll housings, '12, 13 which merge into chocks 14, 15 for the mounting of driving spindles 16, 17 of work rolls 55; Housing. '12

consists of a base 18' havingjlateral shoulders 19 and a central upward extension or body. 25 which is integral with chock 14. Housing 13comprises two arms 81 projecting asection on the line nr nr or FIGURE 7 second pair of U -arrns intersect the pass plane and serve to. couple the two structures 4 '1 r passes through a central opening 37 in the base 18. One end of the rod 36 carries a'second handwheel 40 while the other end is captive in a trunnion 41 which carries a shaft 42-. Shaft 42 in turn pivotally carries two levers 43 which are also pivoted on a shaft 44 secured in a projecting part 45 of housing 12 and on a pivot 71 to. links 72 which are pivoted by pivots 73 to the housing 13.? As handwheel lower surfaces 82 of arms, 81 in'housing13. Itj willrbe notedtha't surfaces 18 face away from. their associated from chock 15 on each side ofthe central extension 24),

and having lower surfaces 82 whichrest on wedges 22 lo- :cated on the shoulders 1 9 As shown in FIGURE'3, the arrangement of shouldeis 19, extension 20,1arn1s 81 and wedges 22 is symmetrically disposed relative to the plane passingthrough the roll axes. V p Each chock 14, 15 carries therespective driving spindle 16, 17 in'two or three bearingsas shown in FIGURE 4. The larger bearing 23 which'takes the rolling load is lo cated in thechock 14, 15 while the smaller bearing 24,

which takesup bearing clearance,-is located in an overhanging backward extension 25, 26 ofthe check 14, 15. There is preferably also provided a third bearing 46 which is provided within an annular member 47 which can be loaded by a piston 48 arranged in aihydraulic pressure chamber 49 in order to'help tak'eup. clearances in the main bearing 23 and to enablethe mill to be completely prestress'ed. i V,

Each spindle carries a rolling tool 55 which takes the form of a removable sleeve 27 of hard material with a peripheral groove 28 cut therein. The sleeve 27 is held on a mandrel 75 formed in the end of the'spindle by'a roll and its spindle l'l, while shoulders 19 facetowards their associated-roll and its spindle 16.

, Again, regarding the U-shaped structures referred to abme, it will be seen that a first such structure includes spindle 16, chock Has the first U-arm, extension ZO as'the U-base and base 18-as the second U-armzwhile the second such structure includes spindle 17 and check 15 as the first U-arm, arms 81 as the second U-arrn and theJU- base as the junction between chock 15 aridarmsfili V In either event the lockingsurfaces or second arms'are of interleaved form by virtueof the use of two arms 81 disposed on either side of extensionlfl and lockedand coupled to respective shoulders 19 through the intermediary of wedges 22. However in thisconnectio'n :it will be notedthat the'locking surfacesareto be viewed as in cluding the-side faces of extension, 20 contacted. by the inner side "facesofarms 19 in areasindicated at 83in FIGURE 3 whereby the housings are effectively locked a in the direction of the pass line.

collar 30 which is locked by a nut '31- and lock nut 32 on a threaded bolt 29 secured in the spindle. As will be seen in FIGURE 1, the spindles 16, 17 project inwardly towards one another and the two rolls overlap with the grooves'28 aligned to form a roll'hole. Eachspindle 16, 17 is carried in cantilever fashion in that each spindle is mounted in its chock at one side only of the roll surface. Rolling tool separation is efiected by the wedges 22.. A

threadedrod 33, which iscaptive in a block Silset into.

the housing 13 but which can rotate about its axis, carries a nut 34 secured to a bridge member (not shown) connecting the wedges 22. As the rod 33 is turned by a handwheel 35, the wedges 22 are moved relative to the mounting 13 and thereby adjust the vertical separation of the: housings 12,- 13 and hence the separation of the rolls 55. I

When the desired separation of the rolls 55 has been obtained, the usual chock locking wedges 39are placed between the two housings. These wedges 39 may be by draulic chocks and/ or may have lus, as may wedges 22..

The rolls 55 may also be adjusted axiallyv to ensure re a specified spring modue istration of the rolling grooves with therolling line. This. may conveniently be done by the threaded rod 36 which 'It will be. observed that, in the construction shown in FIGURES l to4, the. length of the path through the housing subject to the separating force is small compared-with that in a conventional mill. This is achieved by arranging the interlocking of the housings of the rolls to be as close to thepass line as possible, consistent with proper access to the roll gap; the separating path is then simply from the l upper roll 55,- throughthe housing 12tothe wedge 22 where it is balanced by, the downward force applied to the lower roll 55 by the material being rolled and transmitted throughthe housing 13. to the wedge 22. By keeping the path of the separating force to a minimum, "the elongation of the mill under the. action of the. separating force is keptsinall, with the result that variations in the dimensions of the rolled material are reduced.

As the roll spindles are. mounted on opposite sides of thepass line through-the: rolling grooves, access to the working surfaces of the rolling tools is obtained without i difficulty. This feature, together withthe ease with which 5 the sleeves 27. and hence the profile of therolling groove may be changed considerably reduces the loss in working time occasioned by. a change or tools throughweanora change in the section of the work tobe rolled The canti:

lever mounting, ofthe spindles 16," 17 also enables the.

main bearings 23 for the. spindles to beef larger diameter than the diameter of the rolling sleeves 27 so that wear of'these bearings'is reduced. Additionally, the spindles 16, 17 themselves may have-alarger diameter than the work rolls over the major part of their lengthsand in particu1ar over the length with the housing and extending to, theroihwith a resulting increase inlthe stitfnessofthe.

niillandreduced wearof the working-surface; Thespin; die diameter should of course. decrease to match 'theroll diameterlmmediately adjacent .to the roll, in orderto give.

clearance for theopposing. roll. Onlthe other handjthe. rolling tool diameters may be kept smallso that .the mass and cost of the tools are kept to a minimum even when relative costly materials are used on account of their re slstance to wear, the roll separating force-.andlrolling torque are reduced, and a bigger proportion of the rolling squeeze is turned into elongation and a smaller proportion into spread, with a result that the desired elongation of the work may be accomplished in a smaller number of passes A short rolling tool face may also be achievedto minimize roll mass as before, and to reduce distortion and mill spring due to roll bending, since it allows the'rollto be very close to the main bearing.

If a degree of mill spring is requu'ed in the 111111, the design of the housing or bearings may be altered accordingly. l

The end of the roll spindle 16 not carrying the roll 55, is shown in FIGURE 1 as projecting from the chock extension 25 to enable that spindle 16 to be driven. Addit onally, the spindle 17 may be driven from the same drive as the spindle 16; alternatively spindle 17 may be spun by a separate small motor before entry of the work mto the roll holeto facilitate that entry, but afterwards allowed to free-wheel. I'f continuous operation is possible, even the spinner motor becomes unnecessary. .Itfollows that although these spindles and rolls are shown to be ofequal size in thefigures, in the last-mentioned arrangements the;

free-wheeling spindle and roll can be made smaller, which further improves accessibility."

The mill described above may-be readily modified for two strand working. In this case, the spindle 16 18 carried in a pair of heavy bearings, which may have a pre stressing bearing, similar to bearing 46, between them, and has a work roll 55 at each end. The additional roll at the right-hand end of the spindle, asfviewed in FIGURE 1, co-operates with a roll carried on a third spindle which is arranged and mountedin a manner analogous to spindle 17. The spindle 16 may be driven centrally, or all three spindles may be driven, or the two outer spindles may be driven by a small motor only prior to the entry of the work. An advantage of this two-strand mill over previous two-strand mills is that the roll gaprand roll ah gn. ment for each strand may be adjusteg without altering th a or ali cut for the other stran FICi URES fi zind 6 show diagrammatically, two further mill arrangements'for two-strand rolling. In each of these arrangements two pairs of rolls are prov ded, one roll of one pair being connected to one roll'of the other pair in such a manner that they can be driven by, common driving means. This principle canalso be apphed to multi-strand rolling.

In the past, two-strand rolling mills .have suffered from" various disadvantages, of which the two most serious are:

(1) The roll gap and roll alignment cannot be ad usted independently for the two stands, .asis often desirable, because of difiering wear in the roll grooves forming the two strands. In the present invention, theconnected rolls of each pair can bemounted rigidly,; while the unconnected rolls of each pair can be made independently adjustable. I

(2) A mill train for rolling is arranged for each mill to deform the stock in a direction at' right angles to'the preceding mill. This olfers no problem with single strand rollingathemills are simply arranged with their pass planes at right angles. In two-strand rolling however, it is necessary to twist the strands in order toallow them to pass together through successive mills. 'Ihis twisting weakens the strands, and opens up any faults present in the strands. The present invention allows the pass lines of the strands to be kept straight and untwisted, and provides a mill which is still cheaper andmore convenient and which, thanks 'to the reduced roll diameter, requires less power to run than. two independent of the old type.

In the 'mill arrangement of FIGURES, two pairs of. rolls 54, 55 are provided. Independent rolls 55 are.

mounted in housings 51, similar to the housing 15 of FIG-' URE 1, having lugs 57 with downwardly directed locking surfaces coacting with upwardly directed locking surfaces;

onlugs 56 of main housing 61. Adjustment means be: tween the locking surfaces are again wedges 22.

Rolls 54 are provided on the ends of driving spindles 62 mounted in bearings, similar to those shown in FIG- URE 4, in main housing 61, Spindles 62 are connected .by a gearing 63, so that both spindles can be driven together by a motor 60 working through gearing 64. I

This arrangement provides two pass lines, fixed in space one above the other, the rolls being driven from a common motor, but allows'the roll ga'pahd roll alignment for each pass line to beadjusted independently. This is also trueof the complementary arrangement shownin FIGUREF6.

In FIGURE 6, independent rolls 55 are mounted in housings 52 having lugs 59 with locking surfaces cooperating through adjustment wedges 22, with locking surfaces on lugs 58 of main housing 65. The driven rolls 53 are mountedon each end of a common spindle 66, and are driven through gearing 67 by motor 60. All the details described in connection with FIGURES 1 to 4 may be included in the mill arrangements of FIGURES 5 and 6. In particular each'independent roll55 is preferably provided with a spinner motor 50 to facilitate the entry of work between the rolls. If desired, however, the rolls 55 may also be connected to the driving means. The arrangement of FIGURE 6 provides two .pass lines fired in space which can be made identical with the pass lines of the FIGURE 5 arrangement. ,The pass planes of FIGURE 6 are, however, at right anglesto the pass planes of FIGURE 5. It will be understood that this may also be attained with the two pass lines lying'parallel in a horizontal plane; For this purpose arrangements similar to those of FIGURES 5 and 6 may be provided, but each one being turned on its side.

Other possible arrangements include two complementary stands, each having a main driving spindle with a roll at each end and two independent rolls, for co-operat ing with the driven rolls. The independent rolls may be arranged diametrically at opposite sides of the main spindle which is inclined to the horizontal at 45, the roll size and spindle length being such that the two pass lines lie in a horizontal plane and the pass planes are at 45 to the. horizontal. The distance apart of-eachjpair of roll axes must then-equal the distance apart of the rolls on the main spindle. Successive main spindles will be arranged at right angles. 5 It is also possible to facilitate thearrangement of successive pass planes at right angles by providing a work surface for one or both rolls of each pair which is inclined to the roll axis or by acombination of the above arrangements. A complementary pair, or a' succession of complementarypairs of mills may be arranged to form a mill train for two-strandrolling; In this case, the main housings for the driven rolls of each mill may all be combined into a single unit, or train housing, the housing for the independent rolls being made interchangeable so as to reduce spare housings carn'edin stock and to facilitate major maintenance in situ. The

train housing may also house all the attachments required for the entry and exit of the strands into and out of the trainL and the guides for the strands between mills.

When one or more complementary pair of mills are provided with asingle housing for all the driven rolls, it is further possible for all driven'rollst'o be driven from the same common motor. This is 'of greatest use with a singlecomplementary pair ofmills;

- The use of an integral train housing forzoneiormore complementary pairs of mills, described above for twostrand rolling, can also be applied to 'single strand rollmg. 1 1 r As will be appreciated, the mill as described and illus trated includes the following features:

1(1) The shaping and driving functions of each roll are preformedby separate elements. One of these elements is a rolling 'tool in the form of a sleeve or a disc, with the rolling surface or groove disposed circumferentially.

features:

71 i The other. elementis a driving spindle supported in not less than two bearings. The two elements are detachably joined, the'joint being situated at one extremity of the driving spindle and all the bearings being situated on the same side ofthe rolling tool; 'The nature of the joint is such that the outside diameter of the rolling toolneed not be greater than the largest diameter of the driving spindle. Indeed, the rolling tool diameter is chosen as small as is desirablein the interests of efficient shaping of the. stock and low rolling force and torque; andthe spindle is proportioned for maximum flexural' stifi ness and efiicient bearing support.

The width of 'the'rolling tools is made no more than is needed to accommodate one Working groove, so that the line of action of the rolling force is situated in closest proximity to the line of reaction of the nearest bearing, 1

in the interests of least deflection of the ax'es of the rolling tools, particularly by bending of the. spindle.

p (2). When assembled in -the mill,rthe two' driving spindles are placed oneon either side of the plane containing the'rolling tools and the rolled'stock'.between them. This-arrangement, which will be referred to as the juxtaposed cantilever system, makes ittpossible'for the diameters of the rolling tools to be made independent 1 .25 (3) Theihousings in which the two spindles are mountof the diameters of the driving spindles.

ed are each provided'with'lugs which are situated on the same side of the plane which contains the axis'of the rolled stock and which is parallel to the axes of the spindles. These lugs project in the general direction of the rolling tool so as to pierce the .plane'at right angles to the axes of the. rolling tools and containing the axis of (7) Compactnessof mill, coupled withthe ease of providing precision three dimensional alignment of ;the

two mating tools;

r (8) Independent adjustment of rolling grooves for each (9) Highoutput, twist-free rolling through the vertical-.

(i) The use of a subsidiary spindle bearing with tighten-v V ing-up'or pre-stressing element for the elimination of' all play in the main spindle hearings, in particular 7 when rolling narrow strip, in order to counteract tilt ing of the rolls under the action of the roll separating forces; p a 7 (ii) The use of a material possessing the very. highest resistance to wear in'the manufacture of the rolling tools, irrespective of its flexural properties; Examples are: ceramics, cermets, sintered hard carbides, high alloy steel, and other hard wearing alloys (e.g. stel- 1 lites) used in--cast form. In all these cases the rolling 5 groove can'be incorporatedin the forming process a (casting or sintering), so that the conventional time consuming and costly pass turning or grinding operations are dispensed with. r (iii) Theme of spacing elements inserted between the lugs of the mating housings, having a specified spring modulus} r The combination ofthese'design principles enables the .following to be achieved:- a a (1) Good accessibility to the stock being rolled;

. being disposed on the side, of the first bearing remoteirom (2) Easy changing of rolling tools without disturbing the driving spindles; j

(3) Rolling line fixed in space so that guides need not be realigned after a change of rolling tools;

4 'Negligible. bending deflection of driving spindlesan negligible housingstretchj (5) Optimum diameter of rolling tool forefiicient'rolling; V (6). Small mass of rolling tool making possible the. use

, of costly, hard wearing materials;

strand of a twin-strand mill, by which means it is further possible to roll simultaneously certain combinations of different sections, or of identical different materials;

- horizontal alternation of twin-strand stands;

. 1.1Arolling-mil1' comprising two pairs of .work rolls to define two roll gapstherebetween, a common spindle carrying one roll of each pairimounted in an overhanging manner at either end ofthe. spindle, a central housing in whichthe spindle is mounted, separate housings in which the otherrolls of each pair are mounted in overhanging manner; said separate housings each having a fixedly secured part interleavingwith a part of the central.

housing, the abutting surfaces of the interleaving parts of the separate housingsv being disposed in planes intersecting the passplanes. of said two roll'gaps, and wedge.

adjustment means betweensthe interleaving-partscorresponding to each pair of 'rolls' for independent adjustment of each pair of rolls forroll gapand' alignment. 2. A rolling mill comprising:twogenerally U-shaped roll housing structures-one such structurezbeing located with both its U-arms disposed between and adjacentthe U-arms ofthe other structure; a first pair of c'orresponding adjacent. U-armsfone, fromseach structure, respec.-. tively, mounted in overhung mannena roll, a roll chock and a spindle mounting said roll and saidchocklsup-w ported on each of said adjacent U-arrns; the remaining second pair of corresponding adjacent ,U-arms being interleaved transverse their longitudinal axes and longitudinally intersecting the pass plane of. the mill as'defined by said rolls; a wedgebearing longitudinally between said second pair of U-armsandintersecting the pass plane;

and means for adjusting 'the'longitudinal position of said Wedgeto effect variation of the roll' gap. i

3. A rolling millaccordingto claim 2 wherein each,

roll chock comprises aplurality of bearings in'which the respective roll spindle is mounted, and} loading means loading at least one of said bearings in'each' chock to take up1 clearances in the other bearings and so prestressthe mil. a

4. .A rolling mill according. to claim 2, wherein each roll chock includes a first=bearing anda second bearing in'whichthe respectivespindlefis mounted, the first hearing being disposed closely adjacentflthe overhungroll carried bythe respective spindle and the second bearing said roll, and pressure means exerting pressure upon said second bearing for prestressing the. same.

, 5. A rolling mill according to claim 4, wherein of said r'oll 'chocks further includes an annual member encompassing the respective spindle and housing the respective second bearing, and wherein said pressure means comprise a hydraulic-pressure means including a piston exerting radially directed pressure upon the. annular rnem berfto effect prestressing of :the second bearing. r

' 6. 'A rolling mill comprising: a first generally U-shaped roll housing structure formed by a first U a'rm including each side of the U-base; a second generally U-shaped structure disposed in opposition to the first such structure. and formedby a first U-arm including an overhung-roll and chock and spindle therefor which first U-armis located between the U-arms of the first structure and adjacent the first-'U-arm thereof'whereby the rollsco-operate' .tor rolling, a U-base member fixably connected to the sections in U-base member each of the bifurcated arms being located adjacent a different one of the shoulders of the first structure and embracing the U-base member thereof; two wedges bearing one each between a difierent one of said shoulders and the bifurcated arm associated therewith; and common means for adjusting said two wedges to adjust the gap between the co-operating rolls, the arrangement being such that each of said second arms and wedges intersects the pass plane of the mill as defined by said rolls.

7. A rolling mill according to claim 6 wherein each chock includes three bearings in which therespective roll spindle is mounted, the three bearings being disposed around the chock successively along its axis relative to the spindle with a first bearing locatedclosely adjacent the overhung roll carried by the spindle, a second bearing located adjacent the end of the spindle remote fi'om the roll, and a third bearing located intermediate said first and second bearings, and wherein hydraulic pressure means prestress said third bearing.

8. A rolling mill comprising a first roll, a first housing mounting said roll and having a first lockingsurface facing toward said roll, a second roll, a second housing mounting the second roll and interleaved with the first housing, said second housing having a second locking surface facing away from said second roll, the second roll and second surface being interleaved between the first roll and the first surface in positions in which the rolls cooperate for rolling and the locking surfaces oppose each other, wedge adjustment means arranged between opposed locking surfaces for adjusting the housings relative to one another and bearing against said surfaces in order to lock the housings against the separating force developed between the rolls during rolling, said surfaces and said wedge adjustment means connection intersecting the pass plane in which the separating force is developed-during a rolling operation.

9. A twin-strand rolling mill comprising a pair of mills, each of which mills includes two generally U-shaped roll I housing structures, a first one of such structures being 10- cated with both its U-arms disposed between and in opposition to the U-arms of the second one of such structures, a first pair of corresponding adjacent U-arms, one from each structure, being mounted in an overhung manner, each of said adjacent U-arms supporting the roll, the associated roll chock and the spindle of the respective mill, the second pairs of corresponding adjacent U- arms of the two housing structures longitudinally, intersecting the respective pass plane, a wedge bearing longitudinally between each second pair of corresponding arms and longitudinally intersecting the respective pass plane, and means for independently adjusting the longitudinal positions of said wedges to effect independent variation of the roll gaps; the two U-shaped roll housing structures of each pair being interleaved one with another to prevent separation in the direction of the pass line, the two pairs of U-shaped housing structures defining parallel pass planes, and one pair of corresponding second U-shaped housing structures being fixedly interconnected for mounting on a common foundation.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS WILLIAM I STEPHENSON, Primary Examiner.

WILLIAM w. DYER, JR., Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A ROLLING MILL COMPRISING TWO PAIRS OF WORK ROLLS TO DEFINE TWO ROLL GAPS THEREBETWEEN, A COMMON SPINDLE CARRYING ONE ROLL OF EACH PAIR MOUNTED IN AN OVERHANGING MANNER AT EITHER END OF THE SPINDLE, A CENTRAL HOUSING IN WHICH THE SPINDLE IS MOUNTED, SEPARATE HOUSINGS IN WHICH THE OTHER ROLLS OF EACH PAIR ARE MOUNTED IN OVERHANGING MANNER, SAID SEPARATE HOUSINGS EACH HAVING A FIXEDLY SECURED PART INTERLEAVING WITH A PART OF THE CENTRAL HOUSING, THE ABUTTING SURFACES OF THE INTERLEAVING PARTS OF THE SEPARATE HOUSINGS BEING DISPOSED IN PLANES INTERSECTING THE PASS PLANES OF SAID TWO ROLL GAPS, AND WEDGE ADJUSTMENT MEANS BETWEEN THE INTERLEAVING PARTS CORRESPONDING TO EACH PAIR OF ROLLS FOR INDEPENDENT ADJUSTMENT OF EACH PAIR OF ROLLS FOR ROLL GAP AND ALIGNMENT.

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